Dozens of bikers show support for 'motorbike mad' Kirkby boy with rare heart conditions

Teddy was born in 2021 with rare heart conditions and had to undergo open-heart surgery at just three weeks old.

He faced difficulty swallowing and therefore could not be bottle-fed, which led to him being fed through a nasogastric tube due to his medical conditions.

An assessment with SALT (Speech and Language Therapy) confirmed that Teddy had an 'unsafe swallow’.

The now two-year-old underwent banding around his pulmonary artery – at weeks old – to reduce the amount of blood flowing to his lungs.

Teddy has been in and out of the hospital undergoing various tests and surgeries due to his conditions in his three years.

One surgery in 2023 included cutting one of his main arteries and redirecting it straight to his lung, to improve the blood flow to his lungs.

Teddy’s mum, Adele Coupe, said the only doctor to have seen this in the UK is at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Despite Teddy’s health conditions, she said he is learning to eat three meals a day and manage his breathing while drinking liquids.

Teddy also has to sleep with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine which normalises breathing while sleeping due to his narrow main airway and a closed left airway.

Desperate to put a smile on her son’s face, Adele put out a post on Facebook asking for motorbikes in the area to visit ‘motorbike mad’ Teddy.

To Adele’s surprise, dozens of bikers answered her call and turned up to show their support, including fundraisers from White Rose Loonies bike club.

Adele said: “It made my boy very happy. I can’t thank everyone enough. I have never cried so much.”

During their visit, Teddy, and his sister Esme, were able to sit on some of the bikes.

The family is currently waiting to hear about when Teddy's next open-heart surgery will be.

A fundraising page – https://www.gofundme.com/f/miracle-for-teddys-special-heart – has also been launched to help Teddy’s family with financial support, covering fuel and food costs during hospital visits, as they live an hour away from Leicester where Teddy’s open heart surgery will take place.

Costs may also go towards taking Teddy on holiday before his next open heart surgery.